Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are bracing for the arrival of a very slow-moving storm, the strongest tropical cyclone to threaten the region in more than 50 years. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday as a Category 1 cyclone,

Premier David Crisafulli says the system is starting to “pack a bit of a punch” as it moved closer to Brisbane.

Alfred is forecast to make landfall near Brisbane, the capital of Queensland and Australia’s third largest city.

More than four million people across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast in Queensland - as well as in northern NSW towns including Byron Bay and Lismore - are planning for Cyclone Alfred.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Early wind and rain from a rare tropical cyclone began lashing part of eastern Australia on Thursday as schools were closed, public transport was stopped and desperate residents got around shortages of sandbags by buying potting mix.

Australia braced for a rare east coast tropical cyclone that is swirling towards Brisbane, its third-most populous city, with authorities urging residents in flood-prone suburbs to evacuate soon.

The outer fringe of a tropical cyclone started whipping eastern Australia on Thursday, bringing drenching rains and record-breaking waves to a heavily populated region rarely hit by typhoons.

Residents are stacking sandbags to protect low-lying properties ahead of a tropical cyclone that is forecast to become the first in 51 years to hit the Australian east coast near Brisbane, the nation’s third-most populous city.

Australia’s east coast braces for Tropical Cyclone Alfred to make landfall Watch live as Australia's east coast braces for a tropical cyclone that is swirling towards Queensland and northern New South Wales,

A rare tropical cyclone veered towards Australia's densely populated eastern coast on Wednesday, sparking emergency warnings, closing hundreds of schools, and threatening to flood thousands of homes.